A Break From Reality
by xonceinadream
Summary: Snow White makes it into the wardrobe before giving birth and finds Pinocchio. She raises him and Emma alone, knowing that when Emma is 28 she will break the curse. Emma falls in love (a few times), makes mistakes, grows up and tries to be the savior. Whatever that means.
1. The Beginning

**Characters;** Emma Swan. Neal Cassidy. Snow White. Pinocchio.  
**Notes;** Characters will be added as they are introduced to the story.

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She is in agony as she falls out of the tree. It hurts. Her entire body hurts and oh, she's fairly certain that she's having the baby _right now_. The scream that she lets out echoes through the trees and she wonders if there's anybody out there, anybody who can help her. Perhaps she's in a world all of her own. What a curse that would be. "Hello?" the voice is timid, obviously a child, and she struggles to open her eyes.

When she sees him she gasps, shaking her head because she's sure that she must be seeing things. "Pinocchio? Pinocchio! What are you doing here?" It's a silly question and she realizes it the second that she says it. "How did you get here?"

"Please don't be mad."

Pinocchio looks close to tears and Snow shakes her head again, this time for a different reason, her hand clutching her stomach, her fingers digging in as the pain rips through her. She can barely speak, out of breath, clutching and trying so hard to breathe. "No, Pinocchio. I'm not… upset. I just need help."

Looking around, Snow takes a deep breath, struggling to stand. Immediately, Pinocchio moves to help her stand, his body tiny but trying so hard to help support her. Normally, she wouldn't let herself lean on him, knowing the weight is too much but she can't stand by herself. "It's going to be okay, Snow," he says, trying to sound comforting and she doesn't let herself laugh, knowing there's nothing humorous in the situation.

They walk for what seems like days but Snow knows that it isn't that long. She imagines that she feels Emma already pushing out of her but she knows that that can't be true. They reach an odd road and Snow collapses, unable to walk further. She hears Pinocchio, begging her to get up and then another voice and more that she doesn't recognize. She tries to open her eyes, tries to stand up, tries to comfort Pinocchio but she can't. Her eyes stay shut and eventually she stops hearing the voices.

When she wakes up again, she feels all sorts of odd things. There's something inside of her nose and her eyes wrench open. She's in a room that she doesn't recognize. There's so much white as she looks around and she lets out a breath, reaching out, hearing something rip, feeling pain but not caring as she looks inside the bassinet. Her baby is sleeping soundly in there and Snow lets out a breath, slowly becoming aware of the sound coming out of one of the odd boxes next to her bed.

A woman comes rushing in, smiling softly at her. "You're awake. Oh, you've ripped out your IV. You need to be more careful. Let me just fix this for you and I'll get the social worker in to talk to you. The little boy you were with won't give us any answers. Just keeps saying that he's Pinocchio."

So Pinocchio is alright, Snow is relieved at that. "My daughter?"

"She's perfectly healthy. You were awake off and on during the birth but you were in a lot of pain. The doctor gave you quite a bit of medication. You shouldn't have been in the woods so close to giving birth. You're lucky you made it to the road." Snow sits back, not sure what's happening, watching as the woman touched the box. There were numbers on what looked like a screen and Snow squints. She is in an odd place. The woman pricks her hand as she put a needle back into it and Snow gasps. "Sorry. I'm your nurse, Marlene by the way. I'll be right back with the social worker."

Snow's head is spinning as she looks down at the droplet of blood on her hand from the needle. She can still hear Emma's quiet breathing and she wants to reach out, to grab her but she's not sure about ripping the needle out again. She doesn't know why the needle is in her hand. The door is pushed open again and a different woman comes in, this one looking sterner and Snow forces herself to sit up straighter. "Good evening, Miss. I'm Joanne Wilson."

"Hello," Snow says, watching carefully as the woman brings a chair to sit down next to her. "I'm Snow White."

Joanne's smile looks forced as she looks at Snow and Snow stares back. She's not one to back down. Joanne takes a breath that Snow recognizes as for show and clears her throat. "Ma'am, I'm not sure what's going on right now but I will find out. It seems that the little boy you were with genuinely believes that he's Pinocchio. Do you really believe that you're Snow White?" Before Snow can continue, Joanne goes on. "Snow White is a fairy tale character. As is Pinocchio. Would you care to tell me who you really are? I will find out."

Snow forces herself to think through the headache. A fairy tale character? She can see that Joanne isn't happy about her answer. Letting out a slow breath, Snow looks down. For now, she knows that she should play along. She has to see what this world is truly like before she makes any rash decisions. "I'm sorry. I told him to… pretend. It's… my husband."

"Leaving him?"

"We had to," Snow says, forming the words slowly, trying so hard to think. She gets a flash and tries to put on a sympathetic expression. "He's… abusive, you see. Towards me and my… cousin. My name is Ma-Mary… Margaret. My cousin's name is…" Drawing a blank, Snow tries to look around, seeing a paper on the wall with some numbers and a word… "August. His name is August… Wood. Mine is Mary Margaret Blank… Blanch-ard. Blanchard. I was pregnant. And I knew that I had to leave. It explains the bruises that I have."

Looking her over, Joanne nods, writing something down on the clipboard that she holds. Snow holds her expression, not letting Joanne see the lies in her eyes, silently apologizing to James for even implying that he would touch her in a cruel way. She needs to get to Pinocchio. She needs to get to Pinocchio and leave. "Miss Blanchard, I want to help you, especially if your story is true. But you need to be honest with me. The boy, your cousin, you say? He is very confused and very upset. I would like to let him see you but only if you're being truthful."

Snow pulls every ounce of strength, every little bit of innocence that she once held, to look Joanne straight in the eyes. "I'm telling you the truth."

"Very well. The boy is desperate to see you," Joanne says, standing up.

When Joanne leaves, Snow sinks back into the pillows. She doesn't think that Joanne believes her and she wonders what Pinocchio has said to her. When he comes in, she holds out her arms and he runs into them. "Snow, I'm so scared," he whispers, burying his face against her shoulder.

"It's going to be okay," she says softly, pressing her face to his hair. She can see Joanne in the doorway, coming close and she whispers fast. "Listen to me, Pinocchio. I don't know where we are. I don't know what kind of place this is. But you need to go along with what I say, do you understand? We might be lying, we might be doing the wrong thing. But I need you to trust me and do everything I say. Most of all, we need to listen to what they say, do you understand?"

Snow pushes Pinocchio back so that she can look at him carefully, looking deep into his eyes and he looks back at her. He whispers. "I promise, Snow."

"First things first. My name is Mary Margaret and yours is August."


	2. A Different World

**Thank you so much for the reviews and alerts. I hope I don't disappoint.**

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Snow rubs Emma's back carefully, remembering the way that Marlene had told her. She has taken quite a shine to Marlene, the only bright part of her day besides Emma. Marlene always smiles brightly at her, bringing her extra blankets because this world is so damn cold and helping her with Emma. Snow cries late at night, cries because she is alone and she's scared and she misses her husband and she cries because her husband is missing her and Emma.

Although Snow is convinced that Joanne still doesn't believe her, Marlene had told her that there is nothing they could do. Snow hasn't done anything wrong. As soon as Snow's stitches heal then Snow will be out into the world. That is something else entirely. Snow knows that she can take care of herself. She lived for years in the forest but taking care of two children? She still hasn't had the chance to ask August how he made it into the realm and Emma won't latch on to nurse and it's just all so hard. She feels that she's been spoiled. She needs James by her side.

"August misses you." Snow looks up as Marlene comes in, carrying a dress that Snow doesn't recognize and a small bag. "He's in a foster home right now but he'll be back with you soon. I brought you a dress and some clothes and other things that you'll need. I noticed you didn't have anything but the nightgown you were wearing and there was blood on that."

"Thank you," Snow whispers, watching as Marlene puts the dress into the bag. Emma is silent in her arms and Snow looks down, a smile immediate on her face as she sees that Emma is still awake, just barely, observing and quiet.

Marlene nods, watching them for a moment, clearing her throat. "Listen… Mary Margaret. This isn't really… but, I have a spare bedroom. I mean, me and my husband do. It wouldn't be permanent or anything but if you need a place to stay while you're looking then you're welcome."

"Oh…" Snow is surprised by the simple kindness behind the gesture. She wants to accept it but she can't. Wherever she is is not the place that she is supposed to be. She shakes her head regretfully. "No. Thank you, though. This isn't my home."

"Where is it?" Marlene asks as she nods, understanding why a stranger wouldn't move in with her, even as she asks the question.

Tilting her head to the side, Snow looks down at her daughter. It's hard to explain to a stranger, one who thinks that she is Mary Margaret Blanchard as opposed to Snow White, wife and queen (perhaps not always in that order). "I'll know it when I'm there," she says quietly. Marlene looks confused but she doesn't press the issue, just takes Snow's vitals and helps Snow prepare a bottle for Emma.

Snow finds out that she has a certain _charm_ concerning males when the man comes in to sign Emma's birth certificate. She tells him that Emma's father is named James and she wants that name on her birth certificate. When the man tries to tell her that she can't have it, she looks up at him, frowning slightly. "That's her father though and that's the name that I want on the certificate."

"That's the name that will be on the certificate," the man says, looking into Snow's eyes. Snow swallows hard, knowing that taking advantage of people really isn't very good but she doesn't let it bother her as the birth certificate is made official.

When Snow sees Pinocchio next, she shows Emma to him (he's fascinated and can't stop touching her soft baby skin) then shushes him when he tries to speak, thanking Marlene for everything and slipping behind a car. When the nurse goes back into the hospital, Snow wraps Emma tighter in the blankets and they begin walking. "How did you get here, Pinocchio?"

"I thought that my name was August?" Pinocchio says, looking up at her.

Snow looks down at him, smiling softly. He knows exactly what he's doing, changing the subject ever so subtly. She knows even better than him though. "When we're around other people. How did you get here, Pinocchio? I'm not angry. There's no use being angry. Nothing can be done now."

As Pinocchio explains his father's actions to Snow, she nods, trying not to be upset at the thought that her husband could be here with her. She could have James here, supporting her, seeing his daughter. Snow understands Geppetto but at the same time, she's so angry that she wants to scream. When she realizes that Pinocchio has finished her story and is looking up at her expectantly she smiles softly. "Well… Nothing left for us to do but make a home here. In 28 years, the curse will be broken by Emma."

They walk for a few hours in a random direction that Pinocchio picks. He holds the garbage bag that Marlene had given them and Snow holds the baby, thankful that it's warm outside the hospital. When they reach an inn, Snow points it out and tells Pinocchio to be quiet. "We need a room for a night. I have nothing to pay." Snow looks into the man at the desk's eyes and ignores the twinge of guilt. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

They get the room and Snow sets up Pinocchio and Emma in the same bed, tucking them both in, wishing them both sweet dreams with a kiss to the forehead. Once they're asleep, she looks through the room. She triple checks the lock and reads through the phone book, trying to remember the names of all the different places. Another book says that they're in Portland, Maine.

The television makes her jump and she presses the button again quickly before it wakes up the kids. Once she's looked through the room, she turns the television back on, fiddling with the different buttons before she manages to turn it down and find out how to change the channels. She watches the images, crying again because she had caught glimpses while she was in the hospital but this is different. She sits and she knows that she is in a place that is so different from her home.

When sleep overtakes her she lays down close to Emma and wipes her tears. She is determined that it is the last tear that she wipes. She is Snow White. She is strong. She will not give up even though she doesn't recognize most of the things in the room and she has two kids to take care of. She can make it.

It's not easy. Emma, while being quiet and observant, is a terror and screams as much as she can. She won't nurse and she spits out her milk most of the time. At night she screams and cries and won't calm no matter what Snow does. When Snow goes back to Marlene, terrified, Marlene tells her that Emma has colic and not to worry, it'll go away within a few months.

Desperate, Snow moves them back near the hospital where Emma was born, needing the support of Marlene. Snow enrolls Pinocchio in school after charming the same man from the hospital to forge a birth certificate for him. The guilt intensifies but eventually goes away because Marlene said that school was necessary. She's not sure she believes her but he goes anyway each day. When he comes home, he helps her with Emma and trying to get used to the real world.

As time goes on, Snow finds a job at the library and Emma's colic goes away. Snow opens a bank account and Marlene offers to teach her how to drive (something that Snow is not sure she wants). Although she's not sure about things, Snow is determined to make it work. She finds the movie version of herself and she laughs until she cries and then has to press her fingers to her eyes to keep from crying for real.

On Emma's first birthday, Snow looks around the tiny apartment that she had rented for the three of them. She has a driver's license and a small car that she had bought with savings from the library. "It's time to move," she says to Pinocchio and he nods, willing to do whatever she says.

Three days later, Snow packs up the car with their meager belongings, stops by Marlene's home to thank her for everything and they start driving.


	3. A Mysterious Stranger

Emma is 5 years old when Snow looks in the mirror and decides that she's not aging. She could be wrong of course but her face doesn't look a bit different than how it looked when she first came through the wardrobe. "Interesting," she murmurs to herself as she pokes and prods at her skin, trying to notice anything that's different. She supposes that it goes along with her getting men to do whatever she wants, something that she's cut down on a lot as she gets used to the real world. She seems to have some sort of magic in this world, something that makes her wonder what kind of world it really is that she's living in.

Both of the kids are at school, getting an education that Snow finds it hard not to scoff at. She thinks that she could teach them much better, and include even more important things like archery and sword fighting (that causes a twinge that makes her wish her husband was here), but she is too busy to teach them. She pores over maps daily, sometimes with Emma and sometimes alone. She thinks that Emma might recognize a place, might know where they're supposed to go but Emma, who thinks it's just a game in the beginning, doesn't ever have an idea.

Emma is a precocious little girl, loud, with the idea that she wants to be a police woman when she grows up. Snow works part time at the school, part time at the library, always doing this and that and getting paid enough that she can afford to travel. They "vacation" more than any other family, always searching. Snow looks in every single face that they pass, wondering if her husband will be one of them. He never is. After a while, Snow goes to a school (a different one than the kids) and becomes a teacher, teaching kids all about important things like friendship and birds. She's disappointed that swords aren't allowed inside but she makes do with mathematics and the like.

As Emma grows up, Snow takes as many pictures as she can. She throws both her and August big birthday parties, baking cupcakes and brownies and cakes for both of them to take to their classes and the two always invite their friends over for sleepovers. She tries not to think about the husband that she longs for. When Emily turns 16 they move to a place called Portland, Oregon (picked randomly by spinning a globe and Emma pointing her finger, yawning through the whole thing). Snow rents an apartment, enrolls the kids in school and gets a job at the local school.

Snow tells the children everything, hiding nothing about their past. When they move to Portland, she promises August that they'll stay in one place for a while and he enrolls in classes at the local community college saying that he's 23 and he needs to start setting up his future just in case. It's midway through the term that Emma skips her high school classes, tagging along with a reluctant August. "Come on, I just need a break," Emma begs and so she goes, sitting in the backseat of his car as he takes his class, reading a book that she's read a million times.

Emma doesn't mind sitting in the backseat of the car. Anything that gets her away from her crazy mom. She loves her mom, she does. Her mom is the best mom ever because she's always making sweets and signs her up for cheerleading and gymnastics and lets her do whatever and loves her but it's such a drag. Her mom is always going on about how she's meant to be this great savior and she's pretty sure that it's not something that she wants. Reading is much better.

She knows that the class is almost over when the front door of August's car opens and Emma sits up fast enough that she hits her head on the ceiling, her book dropping to the floor. "Ow! Who are you?" she asks, one hand against her head, her head starting to throb nearly immediately.

The man gasps, swinging around in his seat to look at her and Emma's breath catches because i_wow_/i he is the most attractive man that she has ever seen. "The question is, who are you?" he asks, closing the front door as he settles. Emma curses inwardly as she sees that August had left the keys in the ignition in case she wanted to turn on the radio.

"My name's Emma and this is my brother's car you're stealing, asshole."

He smirks and her stomach twists almost painfully. Emma swallows hard, trying to calm herself as he nods, looking entirely too bored with the thought that he was stealing a car. "I see. I didn't realize somebody was in here. He did leave the keys. It makes it all too easy."

Shaking herself, Emma sits up straight, looking at him, first in his eyes and then at his nose because she can't focus on his eyes without feeling that sickness in her stomach. "Okay, look. If you don't get out of the car right now then I'm going to punch you."

"Oh really?" he asks incredulously. His disbelief is the last straw for her and she leans forward, curling her fist in the way that her mom had taught her and hitting him. It's quite satisfying and he gapes at her, his hand coming up to his nose. She can see that he hadn't been expecting her to actually follow through with her threat.

Emma just smiles demurely, picking at her fingernails. She won't let him see that it did kind of hurt her hand. "I did warn you. Now will you get out of the car?"

The man looks down at his fingers, making sure that he's not bleeding before smiling widely, nodding at her. "Wow. That was amazing. I'm Neal. It's nice to meet you."

"Seriously?" she asks, ignoring the way that he looks her up and down, awe evident in his eyes. At least, she thinks its awe. There's at least a little bit of awe there. Giving up, she sits back against the seat. He's leaning between the seats, in her way if she was going to try to push her way in between them and her head still hurts. "I'm Emma. Get out of my brother's car."

Neal looks at her for a moment before pulling the keys out of the ignition and hanging them within her reach, pulling them back when she tries to grab them. Emma tilts her head to the side, raising one eyebrow and doing her best to look threatening. "Sure. Let me take you out to lunch."

"Um, no. First of all, you're probably twice my age." She ignores him as he opens his mouth to say something. "Second, you just tried to steal my brother's car and might still be attempting it, I'm not sure. Because of this, I have a feeling you wouldn't pay for us and I'm not one for dining and dashing. All in all, no. Now, if I'm not mistaken it looks like my brother's class has gotten out so please leave."

With a glance behind his back to see that she was telling the truth, Neal tosses the keys at Emma, opening the driver side door again. "Alright, Emma. I will see you again though and I was planning on paying for lunch. We'll do it another time."

Emma watches as he leaves the car, picking up her book from the floor of the car and trying to breathe. Her heart is pounding and she slides into the passenger seat, determined not to sit in the back seat again no matter how much more comfortable it is. When August gets into the front seat she opens her mouth, about to say something to him and then she closes it. Neal hadn't harmed her or ended up stealing the car. And he is incredibly cute.

Maybe at 16 years old she isn't making the right choice but she smiles at August. "Let's go out to lunch. I'm starving."

"Okay," August says, surprised by it but he reverses out of the parking space and heads to their favorite burger place. Emma can't take her mind off the mysterious stranger in the car as she listens to August tell her about his classes. She wonders if it's true. She wonders if she will see him again.


End file.
